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Object Of The Week : D : Dead Man’s Penny

Whilst the Museum is closed and our collections unable to be seen by visitors, we have created a weekly virtual museum with an Object of the Week feature from our collections.

Object D : Dead Man’s Penny

The Museum has two of these items in its collection. The Dead Man’s Penny is a bronze plaque of condolence which was issued after the First World War to the next of kin of British and Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of the War. This memorial was commissioned by the War Government who recognised the need to both honour the fallen and also show gratitude to their next of kin and 1,355,000 were issued.

The name Dead Man’s Penny was given because of the similarity in appearance to the much smaller penny coin. Issue continued into the 1930s to ensure all who died as a consequence of the War were commemorated.

This particular Dead Man’s Penny is in honour of local man, Amos Bates.